Thursday, February 24, 2011

Down on the Farm: DrB's 2011 Giants Top 50 Prospects- Honorable Mention Part II

David Mixon RHP. BD: 9/10/1984. 6'3", 190 lbs. B-R, T-R. AA: 11-7, 3.50, 156.2 IP, 38 BB, 112 K's, GO/AO= 1.66. Older prospect. Mainstay of the Richmond rotation last year. Doesn't miss many bats, but doesn't walk many and has a GB tendency. Fringe prospect. May sniff a cup of coffee at some point.

Wilmin Rodriguez LHP. BD: 5/13/1985. 6'2", 210 lbs. B-L, T-L. AA: 0-1, 3.51, 25.2 IP, 14 BB, 12 K's. Low A: 4-3, 3.81, 28.1 IP, 9 BB, 20 K's. I saw him pitch in the Cal League championship series in Rancho Cucamonga. He looks bigger than his listed dimensions. Hard throwing LHP. His stuff looks better than his stats would lead you to believe. Has been kicking around the organization for a long time, though.

David Quinowski LHP. BD: 4/23/1986. 5'10", 170 lbs. B-L, T-L. A+: 3-2, 2.32, 42.2 IP, 13 BB, 51 K's. AA: 2-0, 2.84, 12.2 IP, 5 BB, 14 K's. Q is a graduate of Redlands HS where I live, so I have a rooting interest in him. Lost a year to TJ. Pitched very well at 2 levels in 2010. Unimpressive size and velocity, but has always put up interesting numbers. Wouldn't count him out as an eventual LOOGY bullpen guy at the MLB level.

Michael Main RHP. BD: 12/14/1988. 6'1", 170 lbs. B-R, T-R. A+(Rangers): 5-3, 3.45, 91.1 IP, 21 BB, 72 K's. AA(Giants): 0-3, 13.83, 13.2 IP, 14 BB, 7 K's. Former first round draft pick of the Rangers. Came over in the Bengie Molina trade. The Giants promoted him to AA with disastrous results. Had hip surgery this offseason, so maybe he was hurting? Gotta think he has a high ceiling if he can get healthy and get his stuff together.

Drew Biery 3B. BD: 5/14/1986. 6'2", 215 lbs. B-R, T-R. A+: .249/.322/.396, 14 HR. Disappointing season after a great pro debut in Salem-Keizer. Decent walk rates and power holds out a sliver of hope.

Michael Sandoval 1B. BD: 7/8/1981. 5'11", 205 lbs. B-R, T-R. A+: .269/.331/.397. Pablo's bro. Looks like he could be a twin. Listed as a OF, but played almost exclusively 1B in San Jose. Probably an organizational player. I included him because of his pedigree.

James Simmons OF. BD: 9/3/1985. 6'3", 190 lbs. B-R, T-R. A+: .252/.339/.448, 12 HR, 19 SB. I believe Simmons might be the best athlete in the organization. After watching him closely in several games last year, I have concluded that he absolutely cannot hit a breaking ball and probably never will. Swings a tiny toothpick of a bat. Might benefit from a bigger stick.

Justin Fitzgerald RHP. BD: 3/3/1986. 6'5", 225 lbs. B-R, T-R. A+: 10-6, 3.45, 146 IP, 46 BB, 116 K's, GO/AO= 1.64. Local kid out of Cloverdale and UC Davis. Converted College closer. Did well in his first starting role for San Jose. FB topped out at 90 MPH in the game I saw. Did well enough to justify a look at higher levels.

4 comments:

  1. Something that impresses me most about the Giants is how deep the farm system has become in position players versus 10 years ago.

    I remember guys like Shabala and Doug Clark getting callups, non-prospects like Francisco Santos and that 1st baseman from Hawaii.
    Just looking at those old Fresno and Norwich teams, they were filled with older players.

    Now, guys like Brock Bond, Tyler Graham and Ben Copeland are putting nice numbers at AAA, but will probably never sniff this team's roster. And now if a player repeats a level, there will be a player right behind them nipping at their heels. There is actually competition for at-bats between players who matter, like the SJ catcher, and the middle infield at AA and AAA.

    Just look at Cody Ransom, who was the top SS prospect for like half of the 2000's, and when he was older than Brandon Crawford is now, he had a 564 ops in AA.

    Sorry about the rant, but I could go on and on.
    It probably doesn't matter so much in the big picture, but makes following the system much more fun. Thanks again for your great work on the blog.

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  2. Oh yeah, I completely agree. A lot of these players here in the honorable mentions list would have been easily top 50 just 2 or 3 seasons ago. The organizational depth has increased by leaps and bounds, no question.

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  3. I heard that they are thinking of moving Biery to Catcher to up his value. Have you heard anything about that, Dr. B?

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  4. Dave,

    Seems like I vaguely remember seeing that about Biery somewhere. Not sure where he would find playing time between Monell, Joseph, Sanchez, Burkhart and Joe Staley already in the system. Biery does have a catcher's build though.

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